Alcoholic? Amsterdam pays workers with beer

No, you didn’t read that headline incorrectly. A mostly government-funded program in Amsterdam pays alcoholics who clean street litter with beer.

It’s all part of the Rainbow Foundation, a program started last year to help give alcoholics, homeless and drug addicts a fresh start.

“I’m not proud of being an alcoholic, but I am proud to have a job again,” program participant Fred Schiphorst told the New York Times.

Schiphorst starts working at 9 a.m. and is given two cans of beer. He is given two more beers at lunch and possibly a can or two more before the end of the day. The beer comes from whichever brewery gives the organization a decent price.

Participants also get lunch, half a packet of rolling tobacco and 10 euros a day. They can drink the beer before work and on their lunch break but not while out on the streets cleaning. If it sounds like people would be lining up for the job, it’s because they are. The program is so attractive, there is a long waiting list to join.